Communicative Competence and Career Preparedness in the Era of Digitalization: Perspectives of Criminology Interns
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Abstract
Digitalization has transformed workplace communication and competency requirements across professional sectors, making communicative competence and career preparedness increasingly important for future criminology professionals. This study explored the perspectives of criminology interns on communicative competence and career preparedness in the era of digitalization. A qualitative interpretive descriptive research design was employed involving 14 purposively selected criminology interns who had completed or were undergoing internship training. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis generated six themes: Digital Communication, Communication Adaptability, Workplace Readiness, Digital Competence, Curriculum Innovation, and Experiential Learning. The findings revealed that digitalization has expanded opportunities for professional communication, strengthened workplace readiness, and increased the importance of digital competence alongside effective interpersonal communication. Participants likewise emphasized the need for curriculum innovation, technology-enhanced learning, and authentic experiential training to better prepare criminology students for digitally transformed professional environments. The study highlights the importance of integrating digital competencies into criminology education to strengthen communicative competence and career preparedness in the evolving digital workplace..
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